Back in the fight

He was considering his future last autumn, but Eamon Corcoran has returned for Tipperary with all his old appetite

Seven minutes from the end of Tipperary’s first-round match against Limerick last year Eamon Corcoran was replaced. He removed his helmet before he reached the sideline, his shaven red hair glistening with sweat. No poses, no pouts. It was something that you never expected to see. As long as he had been a Tipp player Corcoran stood for fight and resistance, a comfort to everyone else alongside him in the fox-hole. But the match was level now, the battle at its fiercest, and he was discharged from the front line.

In commentary Ger Canning made passing reference to all the good hurling Corcoran had done for Tipp. It was the perfect thing to say, an arm around his shoulder. The Corcoran we had seen that day was not the Corcoran we knew. He was an impostor, the performance a lie. But the fraud was pinned on him and he was